


Constellation Cafe

by OhHolyHell



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Cassiopeia is a dog, F/M, Hermione was sick of everyone's shit, I love him really, Like just a LITTLE bit, Not a kid, Not much to add really, Ron Weasley Bashing, Slow Burn, You don't meet Draco straight away, and ran away, probably
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-03
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-07-29 04:25:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7670014
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OhHolyHell/pseuds/OhHolyHell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the war Hermione Granger decides to take a leaf out of Draco Malfoy's book and disappear without a trace.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> There are a few more chapters of this planned/written so depending on response, this could be more than two (ish) chapters.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this thing! If you have the time, please leave a quick comment, I'm always open for some constructive criticism!
> 
> I also don't own Harry Potter etc etc. Can you imagine if I did? That'd be great.

The train rumbled and whirred beneath her and Hermione took a minute to put her book down and appreciate the near silence in the carriage. The woman across from her looked up and smiled reassuringly, prompting Hermione to remember what a mess she must have looked at that moment. At one in the morning she had just decided to pack up all of her belongings and googled the earliest train to Scotland. It was now well past ten pm the same day and she hadn't slept since she had booked the tickets, or showered now she thought about it. Glancing back up at the smiling woman, who was now once more buried in her fashion magazine, she marvelled at her resemblance to Molly and felt, for one fleeting second, a little remorseful for not telling any of her friends, her _family_ where she was going. She shook the feeling and slipped off to sleep to the rhythm of her luggage clanking around in the rack behind her seat. 

Hermione woke as the bored sounding driver announced their destination, she happened to be the only passenger left in the carriage and absent mindedly wished that she had talked to the woman that reminded her of Molly, now that the homesickness was wearing in. She raked a hand through her slightly greasy hair and grabbed her luggage, quickly exiting the train. Standing on the platform in the chill of the Scottish winter, watching the train chunter away back to England, Hermione felt hot tears prickle at her eyes because this was it. She was all alone, in the middle of the night, in a remote Village that she barely remembered the name of, with nowhere to stay and only a small case of belongings. What was she even doing here? Why on earth had she done that; just up and left in the middle of the night? She was always the rational one of her trio anyway, maybe it was the time for a change. A huge fucking change. 

And if Hermione Granger started crying on a cold Scottish train platform in the middle of the night, then whose business was it anyway?

As she wiped the tears from her face with the sleeve of her overly baggy jumper, Hermione mentally told herself to get it together and picked up her case, a resolute expression on her face. The village was dead silent at that time and Hermione honestly thought it felt like a ghost town, but she soldiered on and wandered through the dim streets aimlessly for what felt like hours before, to her shock, she came across what seemed to be an open coffee shop. The little cafe sent a disc of light out into the dark high street with its brightly lit interior. Hermione strolled over to it, after all, she reasoned, there's nothing like a hot cup of tea to soothe the soul. 

The shop's sign twinkled with the words 'Constellation Cafe' and a small smile brightened Hermione's face as she looked into the window to see a young woman busying herself with something behind the till, the little flip sign on the door signalling that the cafe was open. She winced as the tinkling of the bell above the door seemed abnormally loud in the complete silence. The brunette behind the counter jolted but still had a radiant smile on as she looked up to greet Hermione. 

"Oh gosh, hello! What can I get for you then?" Hermione gave her a soft smile in return and shrugged sitting heavily in the chair that the lithe young woman rushed to pull out for her. "Hmm, let's see. You look like a tea girl to me- maybe coffee? No definitely tea. And how about something chocolatey for the spirits." She whirled around the little shop, quickly pulling out a cup and plate, boiling the kettle and picking up some cake tongs, all the while humming a little tune that made Hermione smile a little and huff a laugh, despite her damp mood.

The girl was no time with her drink and set it down on the table alongside a large chocolate brownie with a resonating clink, bringing Hermione back into the present. She slipped silently into the seat opposite with her own tea, an odd smelling fruity blend, and just tipped her head to the side, regarding Hermione with emotion in her green eyes. Hermione let the heat of the tea settle into her bones and took the tiny fork to the brownie. It was sweet and dark and indulgently rich, reminding her intensely of lazy Sundays spent at the Burrow, curled into an armchair with Ron, watching Harry spin Ginny on the living room carpet and watching George try and hit them with Bertie Bott’s. She didn't even notice she was crying until the lady opposite her touched her shoulder softly and whispered, 

"Memories eh? Catching up with you when you least expect it." Hermione gave a watery but grateful grin and realised that she didn't even know the girl's name. She said as much and the brunette smiled an almost shocked smile, like no-one often bothered to ask her name in the little cafe. "Audrey," She grinned "What's yours curly?" Hermione felt her spirits lift a little at the casual nickname and replied with a slightly less down voice. "Ah, I love that name! Shakespeare yes? My boyfriend knows a Hermione, maybe you'd be friends!" Hermione snorted and stabbed at the brownie, not eating it. "Why don't I bag that up for you so you can have it when you feel hungrier?" She clicked around in her low heels and Hermione just watched the whirlwind that was Audrey in her twirling dress and felt- well she didn't feel anything really. She must have looked worse than she realised because Audrey's bright face grew a touch concerned and she bustled Hermione up and out, all the while talking to her and asking her questions like 'Do you have anywhere to stay?' and 'Are you okay?'

Hermione wasn't a hundred percent on how she ended up sitting on a hotel bed with a brownie wrapped in paper with Audrey's number printed on the front but there she was, tear stained and feeling like shit. _But hey,_ she thought _at least I'm in Scotland_

At four in the morning when she finally went to sleep, the last thing on her mind was decidedly _not_ that the scratchy orange woollen blanket reminded her of Ronald's hair and it was _definitely_ not that the silky duvet cover felt like his soft 'never worked a day in my life' hands against her skin. 


	2. Chapter 2

It was noon when Hermione woke to the sharp winter sun throwing its rays across the room. Rolling out of bed, Hermione caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror above the dresser and cringed a little at her pillow-shaped hair and puffy eyes. She drew her hand over her face and shuddered, realising that the window was open, she trudged over it and grabbed the handle, yanking it closed while peering outside. The little village was actually very pretty in the midday sun and she smiled at a group of children playing tag in the street. She watched the town for a little while longer before turning around and preparing herself to get on with the day.

She spent about half an hour trying to work out the shower before she got frustrated and gave it a _gentle_ knock with her fist. Hermione had zero time to react as the shower spluttered to life above her and drenched her in a slew of cold water. Fully clothed. After grumpily hanging up her wet clothes on the towel rail and having as quick a shower as possible, considering the water switched from arctic sea to fire rain with no inbetweens, Hermione attempted to tame her hair in the steam bathroom but eventually gave up. She scrunched up her eyes, counted to ten and resolved to just forget about her hair because it was just _too much effort_.

Hermione's breakfast consisted of the brownie and some crappy hotel room tea while she pottered around, unpacking a few of her belongings into the dusty drawers. When she got to her wand, rolled neatly in yesterday's copy of 'The Prophet' , she sat on the edge of the bed, cast a moderately successful taming charm on hair and started reading the paper. Most of it was the predictable toff that she had come to expect but one headline caught her eye.

**Malfoy Heir Still Nowhere To Be Found.**

A faint frown set into her face as she skimmed the article. Apparently, Draco Malfoy had one day just emptied his gringotts account, quit his high profile auror job and up and left to God-knows-whereville, just three months before Hermione had done the same. She wondered if, also like her, he had gotten bored and annoyed by the cameras and the interviews and the _galas_. The thought that she could have anything in common with Malfoy, of all people, made Hermione ever so slightly uncomfortable, not that she could pinpoint a reason to be exact. She puffed out a breath with raised eyebrows and rolled the paper back up, stuffing it into the bedside table. 

Fishing out her mostly unused phone and smoothing the brownie paper over her thigh, Hermione mentally berated herself for being so out of it that she hadn't paid the night before and dialled Audrey's number. The phone picked up on the second ring with a cheery,

"Morning earlybird!"

"How did you know it was me?" Hermione laughed loosely as Audrey breathed out a relieved sigh on the other end.

"Oh gosh, you don't know how glad I am that it was you!" They laughed and chatted for a couple of minuted before Hermione remembered to bring up the payment. Audrey let out a scandalised gasp, exclaiming, "You will do no such thing! That was on the house for my new, if slightly barmy, friend!" Hermione's protests died on her tongue as she added "Also my boss is filthy rich and literally does not care." Any subsequent whining from Hermione was promptly quashed with sharp 'Sh's and prodding to stop by the cafe at some point.

Even in the early afternoon sun, Hermione could still see her breath as she walked down the road. She was almost amazed that the other residents of the town seemed do unaffected by the cold but then, she supposed, most of them had probably lived there for their whole lives. There were children running about and people casually walking their dogs, seemingly oblivious to the raw cold around them. Lost in her thoughts, Hermione was mere inches away from stepping on a little king Charles spaniel that darted in front of her feet. Looking around, Hermione couldn't see any owner and bent down to scratch the excitable puppy behind the ears. To her amusement, Hermione thought that the dog rather reminded her of herself, big honey brown eyes, shiny chestnut fur and big silky ears, mimicking her overly bushy curls. 

"Who do you belong to then?" Hermione put on a sickeningly sweet 'baby voice' to talk to the dog, which she personally found annoying but the dog seemed to respond, sitting down heavily and almost comically tilting it's head at her. 

"Cassie? Cassie! Where have you got to now?" The pup turned _her_ head towards the aristocratic voice and after giving Hermione's hand a lick, lolloped off to what Hermione assumed to be her owner. It was some tall, blonde chap that Hermione couldn't see very clearly because he was so far away. She gave a short wave in the hopes of looking polite to the locals and carried on making her way to the cafe.

The smell of baking and the sheer heat of the place hit Hermione like a wall as she opened the door of the cafe. The trill of the bell was a lot quieter in the daytime but it still alerted Audrey, who was leaning on the counter, smiling stupidly at her phone. She grinned and Hermione nodded to her phone asking, 'Boyfriend?' Audrey's bright delighted laugh filled the shop as her phone buzzed once more and Hermione smiled. The way Audrey got _so_ excited reminded her of the early days with Ron, when they were so intrigued by every little thing the other did, when they were high on love and life, when they didn't fight about every single small disagreement, before they were just _comfortable_. She quietly listened to Audrey's babble about her boyfriend, watching the happiness on her face every time she asked a little question, enabling Audrey to spit out more loved-up waffle. 

"...And he's a ginger! Don't you just love gingers?" _Yes, _Hermione thought bitterly, "...All the little freckles!" Audrey let out a little squeak but seemed to be done with her rambling and looked at Hermione, her eyes still shining with mirth.__

"Anyway," laughed Hermione, "I was wondering if your boss was in? I wanted to say thank you for the tea."

"Oh yes! He'll be back in a minute, he was just walking his dog while his croissants baked. Lovely little thing that dog, little King Charles." Thinking back to jst a few minutes prior, Hermione said,

"Oh I think I saw him! Blond guy? Dog called Cassie?"

"Yes, yes! She's called Cassiopeia, like the constellation. Audrey pointed to the wall to her right, highlighting the dark blue canvas with the constellation all mapped out in silver paint. Hermione took the opportunity to have a good look at the decor. 

The white walls were lined in neatly positioned canvases, all depicting different constellations, galaxies and star systems on them. Hermione looked around and silently named them all in her head, testing her knowledge. There was Cassiopeia, Hydra, Orion, all the star signs, Ursa Major and Minor, Pegasus, a few she didn't recognise and one that made her heart stop a second. _Draco._

Hermione shuddered and looked back at Audrey. At that very moment, the bell tinkled and her head whipped round to see none other than Draco Malfoy swanned, _swanned_ , into the shop with a wriggling spaniel in his arms. He completely missed Hermione standing at the counter as he stepped into the breakroom grunting a response to Audrey's bright 'Hi dog-whisperer'. "You know him?" Audrey was looking at Hermione's dumbstruck expression with a smile in her eyes.

Hermione blinked, blinked again, squeezed her eyes shut, opened them and looked over to the break room door where there were faint noises of a dog yapping excitedly and a man's deep gravely laugh. "What the _fuck_?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooh look at that, I managed to get Draco into this chapter

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I already hate this but it could(?) maybe get better if you guys want to read more? Lemme know if you want the rest of this or if it's not something you'd enjoy.
> 
> Drop by my [Tumblr?](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/lets-ship-everything)


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